


Everyone Needs Someone

by LeapinGoldFish



Category: Numenera (Roleplaying Game), Quest Friends! (Podcast)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Love, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-27 22:50:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15694950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeapinGoldFish/pseuds/LeapinGoldFish
Summary: Everybody needs someone to lean on when times get rough, and friends are there to help you out.A.K.A. Xoc and Hopper help each other out with their messy emotions.





	1. Xoc Gets Help

Xoc had been acting weird lately and everyone could tell. Hopper watched him avoid Misha for the fifth time that day. Xoc and them had been getting along so well, what had happened? A week ago they had been inseparable.

In the last few days Xoc had found every excuse to not spend time with them. Hopper could tell that his avoidance was upsetting Misha.

There was something wrong and it was hurting the group.

After the sixth day of Xoc’s weirdness, Hopper knew he needed to talk to him about it. Hop’s chance came when Xoc and him were assigned to go find some firewood for the evening.

“Xoc,” Hopper started once they were far away from everyone else.

“What?” he asked.

“So, ah, what's going on between you and Misha?” Hopper looked over at Xoc to see him go bright red.

“I- I don’t- what do you- Misha?” Xoc stuttered out, getting redder and redder as he failed to form a complete sentence.

Hopper set his pile of sticks on the ground and walked over to Xoc, putting his hand on his shoulder. “What’s wrong, Xoc? Why are you avoiding Misha?”

“I, uh. Well you see.” Xoc looked at the ground and started fidgeting with the hem of his robe. “I really like Misha in a more than friends way but I doubt they like me back and I don’t know how to handle it” He said all in one breath.

Hopper laughed. If it was even possible, Xoc’s face and neck got even redder.

“Oh, no. I’m not laughing at you” Hopper tried to explain. “Its cute that you have a crush on Misha.”

“Sure,” Xoc said walking over to a fallen log and sitting down. He buried his face in his hands.

Hopper sat down next to Xoc. “Why do you like them?” he asked, trying to be as gentle as possible.

“Misha is just so, Misha,” Xoc let out a strangled noise. “They are just so brave, and curious about everything. I love exploring the world with them. Everything is so new, but instead of being scary it’s beautiful.” Xoc was smiling slightly. “Misha wants to experience everything, and I want to experience everything with them.”

Hopper smiled. “You remind me of myself when I was young.”

Xoc looked at Hopper, silently asking for him to continue.

“Okay, well when I was young there was this girl I liked. She was smart and adventurous. Everything I wanted to be. She was the one that made me want to explore the world. And she made me feel like there was someone who cared about me and what I wanted out of life.” Hopper left out the part about how she had framed his dad for a crime he never committed. Or how she was his enemy for a lot longer than she was his friend.

Hopper severely doubted that Misha would turn out to be a bad person. Of course he wouldn’t have predicted the betrayal by his best friend.

“So Misha,” Hop started, changing the subject. “Why haven’t you told them yet?”

“Because I don’t think they’ll like me very much if they find out.”

“And so you ignore them and never speak with them again?”

“I uh,” Xoc looked back at the ground. “I guess I didn’t really think it all through. I just don’t want them to hate me.”

“Xoc, Misha is a good person, they won’t hate you if they don’t like you back. Plus, I think there is a chance for you two.”

Xoc looked up at Hopper with hope. “You really think that?”

“Yeah,” Hopper said. He didn’t want to see Xoc get hurt by rejection, but he also knew that things would be worse if Xoc kept being awkward about it.

“Thank you,” Xoc said, hugging Hopper. He was surprised by the affection but reciprocated the hug.

Later that night Hopper watched as Xoc asked Misha to talk in his tent. He smiled hoping it went well for Xoc.

“They would work well together,” Elee said from across the fire pit. 

“That’s what I told him.” Hopper replied.

“Ugh, kids these days,” She grumbled.

Hopper threw back his head laughing.

The next morning Hopper found Misha and Xoc holding hands while Xoc ate. He watched from the side of his tent as Misha laughed at something Xoc said. He blushed slightly but snuck a quick kiss on their cheek.

“Disgusting,” Elee said, coming up to Hopper’s side. “They’re too adorable for their own good.”

Hopper snorted.


	2. Hopper gets Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper also has feeling he needs to sort through.

They’d barely made it away from Loraine.

When they made camp for the night Hopper disappeared into his tent without a word. That concerned Xoc. Hopper was usually a good natured man, but the encounter had left him shaken.

With the knowledge that Hopper Scotch was not okay, Xoc went to do something about it.

There was nothing to knock against so he called through the flap, “Hopper, are you alright?”

He heard the sound of rustling inside. “I’ll be fine,” came the congested voice of Hopper.

“You’re obviously not fine, would you like to talk about it?”

“No. Yes." A beat "Please come inside.”

Xoc did as ordered, it was a tight fit considering that the tent was only really made for one person to sleep in. Xoc made it work, folding his legs up and leaving his staff outside.

The usually put together accountant was a mess. He was in his undershirt, his hair went every which way, and his eyes were bright red and puffy.

“Why are you crying, Hopper Scotch?” Xoc asked, trying to be comforting. He didn’t know how to deal with humans very well but that didn’t stop him from trying his best. 

“It was a rough day.” He said, wiping his nose.

"Mhmm,” Xoc hummed, urging him to continue.

“It’s just, you’d think after twenty years I would have gotten over a stupid crush.”

Xoc didn’t know what was wrong, but that was not what he would have thought. “So you and Lorraine used to be, a, uh, a _thing_.”

The tips of Hopper’s ears started to go red. “A long time ago. It’s over now. We’re two very different people, it would have never worked.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“Um, okay,” Hopper told the story a young boy that lived in a desert and his best friend who betrayed him and hurt his father. Years on the road only having one constant that was actively hurting others. Pain and hard work.

As Hopper told Xoc tales of his adventuring, Xoc came to the slow realization of why Hopper was so upset.

It wasn’t bad memories brought back to life. It was the happy ones he was ashamed of. ”You still love Lorraine,” the statement seemed to catch Hopper off guard.

“Why would I love her if she made my life hell?” Hopper asked. Then he looked away. “Maybe, I don’t know. It’s complicated.”

“You need to move on, you two aren’t healthy together.”

Hopper sighed.

“It’s going to be hard, but you can do it. You’re a strong man Hopper Scotch. Not just physically, you have a strong heart. We’re your friends, and we are here to pick you up when you fall down,”

Xoc could see tears starting to form in Hopper’s eyes again. “Thank you,”

And Xoc hugged him because everyone needs a friend to be there for them.

Hopper let out a breath, “How did you get so smart about relationships?”

“I have a lot of experience,” Xoc smiled, pulling away, but keeping a hand on Hop's shoulder.

“It’s been a month. You’ve been dating Misha for a month.”

“Yeah,” A dreamy look filled Xoc’s eyes.

“Are you happy with them?” Hopper asked.

“Yeah, I really am,”

“You give me hope, Kid,”

“Hope?”

“That you’ll do good in life.,”

Xoc smiled again, embracing Hopper Scotch because he knew that when the going got rough and life was hard, they would be there for each other to lend a hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Hallie, Sorry, not sorry. I love Hopper/Lorraine and you'll pry it out of my cold dead hands.
> 
> Thank you to [Bee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilgakasa/pseuds/Ilgakasa) for Beta reading this. Go cheak her out. Also cheak out [my Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/leapingoldfish)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Cheak out my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/leapingoldfish). Thank you to Bee for Beta reading for me, cheak out her Ao3 [here.](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilgakasa/pseuds/Ilgakasa)


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